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Terrifying photo shows a dog's mouth coated with painful ladybugs

Unfortunately he's not the only pet to suffer from this horrific infestation.

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Updated: 12:13 PM EST Jan 4, 2017

Terrifying photo shows a dog's mouth coated with painful ladybugs

Unfortunately he's not the only pet to suffer from this horrific infestation.

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Updated: 12:13 PM EST Jan 4, 2017

Pet owners need to be on the look-out for a hidden threat that can seriously hurt their dogs. A graphic photo of a dog’s mouth covered with Asian lady beetles went viral after Hoisington Veterinary Hospital in Kansas warned about the harmful effects.

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"This is the second pup I have seen like this today," veterinarian Dr. Lindsay Mitchell wrote on Facebook. "If your pet is drooling or foaming at the mouth, look for these ladybugs. They cause ulcers on the tongue and mouth and have a very painful bite."

Owner Frances Jiriks first noticed something was wrong with her dog Bailey when he refused to eat, KAKE reports. He was also foaming at the mouth and lethargic, so Jiriks brought him into the clinic. That’s when Mitchell found 30 to 40 insects lodged on the roof of Bailey’s mouth.

Unfortunately, Bailey wasn’t the only pet to suffer from this uncommon but painful affliction. Mitchell’s warning also helped catch at least one more case. "Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this," a commenter wrote on Facebook. "I noticed my son’s little dog had not eaten his food from yesterday. I went on to finish chores, then turned around to check his mouth. He had just a little foam around the mouth. When I opened his mouth it was covered worse than this photo."

The source of all these Asian lady beetles, also called harlequin lady beetles, can be attributed to an uptick in the local aphid population. "With a lot of aphids, they produced a lot of ladybugs to be able to attack and eat and control the aphids," Barton County Extension Agent Alicia Boor told KWCH.

Luckily, if you find any ladybugs in your own pet’s mouth, it’s easy to help your dog without an expensive trip to the vet. "You just remove them with anything you can safely," Hoisington Veterinary Hospital wrote on Facebook. "If your pet lets you, you can use your fingers. Or if she tries to bite you may be able to remove them with a spoon or tongue depressor."